Panel thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Europe 1600-1815, Room 3

Panel

1740-1770 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This Dutch leather panel was originally part of a mural hanging. Made in the mid-18th century it embraces the rococo style with its scrolls and wavy floral forms known as rocailles. The design is extremely elaborate and busy displaying flowers (including the tulip) and fruits such as plums, cherries and grapes. All are painted in opulent, rich colours from shades of green, blue and red to greys and browns.

To create a textured and three-dimensional effect the leather has been embossed by compressing a heated metal plate with the rocailles design onto it. The scroll work was then gilded with a silvered, yellow varnish to simulate gold and the flowers, fruits and foliage painted using both veining and shading effects.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Embossed and gilded leather
Brief description
Embossed gilt leather panel, painted with alternating bunches of flowers and fruits on top of gilt rocailles and scrollwork. Painted in red, green, blue, grey and brown on a blue ground with touches of a red glaze, Dutch, ca. 1740-1770.
Physical description
Embossed gilt leather panel, painted with alternating bunches of flowers and fruits on top of gilt rocailles and scrollwork. Painted in red, green, blue, grey and brown on a blue ground with touches of a red glaze.
Dimensions
  • Height: 75cm
  • Width: 60.5cm
Original measurements: H. 2 ft. 6 in. x 2 ft.
Marks and inscriptions
  • '104 pieces, 369' (Label on the back.)
  • 'F' (On the back of the top-left corner in blue (contemporary to the panel))
Gallery label
Panel for wall covering 1740–70 Dutch Republic, now the Netherlands Leather, embossed, painted, silvered and varnished Museum no. 475-1869(2015)
Object history
Wall hanging in the collection of the 'Geldersche Kasteelen Stichting, 1768. Panels/fragments in the former collection Dulud-Quenardel, Paris (Clouzot, pl. XLV); Museo de la Piel, Igualada; Kunstgewerbemuseum, Dresden, inventory number 7496; Deutsches Ledermuseum, Offenbach am Main, inventory number 2450; Museo National des Artes Decorativos, Madrid, inventory numbers 319 and 435; Coll. Colomer-Munmany, Vic (Sp.) inventory numbers C421 and C1457, unknown; Posada del Potro, Cordoba, inventory number 35; The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, temporary inventory number box number 10; Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York, inventory numbers 1903-9-12 and 1903-11-5
Summary
This Dutch leather panel was originally part of a mural hanging. Made in the mid-18th century it embraces the rococo style with its scrolls and wavy floral forms known as rocailles. The design is extremely elaborate and busy displaying flowers (including the tulip) and fruits such as plums, cherries and grapes. All are painted in opulent, rich colours from shades of green, blue and red to greys and browns.

To create a textured and three-dimensional effect the leather has been embossed by compressing a heated metal plate with the rocailles design onto it. The scroll work was then gilded with a silvered, yellow varnish to simulate gold and the flowers, fruits and foliage painted using both veining and shading effects.
Bibliographic references
  • J.F. Riano, Catalogue of the art and objects of Spanish production in the South Kensington Museum, London 1872, page 61
  • Brenda Greysmith, Wallpaper, London 1976, colour plate 1
  • South Kensington Museum, John Charles Robinson, J. C Robinson, and R. Clay, Sons and Taylor. 1881. Catalogue of the Special Loan Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art: South Kensington Museum, 1881. London: Chapman & Hall, p.186
Collection
Accession number
475-1869

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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